Percy Jackson Bk 5 The Last Olympian by Rick Rordan_clone

that the mountain may not be done.\" I knew all about last year's eruption. I'd caused it. But this explosion was much worse. The mountain tore itself apart, collapsing inward, and an enormous form rose out of the smoke and lava like it was emerging from a manhole. I hoped the Mist would keep the humans from seeing it clearly, because what I saw would've caused panic and riots across the entire United States. The giant was bigger than anything I'd ever encountered. Even my demigod eyes couldn't make out its exact form through the ash and fire, but it was vaguely humanoid and so huge it could've used the Chrysler Building as a baseball bat. The mountain shook with a horrible rumbling, as if the monster were laughing. \"It's him,\" I said. \"Typhon.\" I was seriously hoping Chiron would say something good, like No, that's our huge friend Leroy! He's going to help us! But no such luck. He simply nodded. \"The most horrible monster of all, the biggest single threat the gods ever faced. He has been freed from under the mountain at last. But this scene is from two days ago. Here is what is happening today.\" Chiron waved his hand and the image changed. I saw a bank of storm clouds rolling across the Midwest plains. Lightning flickered. Lines of tornadoes destroyed everything in their path-ripping up houses and trailers, tossing cars around like Matchbox toys. \"Monumental floods,\" an announcer was saying. \"Five states declared disaster areas as the freak storm system sweeps east, continuing its path of destruction.\" The cameras zoomed in on a column of storm bearing down on some Midwest city. I couldn't tell which one. Inside the storm I could see the giant-just small glimpses of his true form: a smoky arm, a dark clawed hand the size of a city

block. His angry roar rolled across the plains like a nuclear blast. Other smaller forms darted through the clouds, circling the monster. I saw flashes of light, and I realized the giant was trying to swat them. I squinted and thought I saw a golden chariot flying into the blackness. Then some kind of huge bird-a monstrous owl-dived in to attack the giant. \"Are those . . . the gods?\" I said. \"Yes, Percy,\" Chiron said. \"They have been fighting him for days now, trying to slow him down. But Typhon is marching forward-toward New York. Toward Olympus.\" I let that sink in. \"How long until he gets here?\" \"Unless the gods can stop him? Perhaps five days. Most of the Olympians are there . . . except your father, who has a war of his own to fight.\" \"But then who's guarding Olympus?\" Connor Stoll shook his head. \"If Typhon gets to New York, it won't matter who's guarding Olympus.\" I thought about Kronos's words on the ship: I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus. Was this what he was talking about: an attack by Typhon? It was sure terrifying enough. But Kronos was always fooling us, misdirecting our attention. This seemed too obvious for him. And in my dream, the golden Titan had talked about several more challenges to come, as if Typhon were only the first. \"It's a trick,\" I said. \"We have to warn the gods. Something else is going to happen.\" Chiron looked at me gravely. \"Something worse than Typhon? I hope not.\"

\"We have to defend Olympus,\" I insisted. \"Kronos has another attack planned.\" \"He did,\" Travis Stoll reminded me. \"But you sunk his ship.\" Everyone was looking at me. They wanted some good news. They wanted to believe that at least I'd given them a little bit of hope. I glanced at Annabeth. I could tell we were thinking the same thing: What if the Princess Andromeda was a ploy? What if Kronos let us blow up that ship so we'd lower our guard? But I wasn't going to say that in front of Silena. Her boyfriend had sacrificed himself for that mission. \"Maybe you're right,\" I said, though I didn't believe it. I tried to imagine how things could get much worse. The gods were m the Midwest fighting a huge monster that had almost defeated them once before. Poseidon was under siege and losing a war against the sea Titan Oceanus. Kronos was still out there somewhere. Olympus was virtually undefended. The demigods of Camp Half- Blood were on our own with a spy in our midst. Oh, and according to the ancient prophecy, I was going to die when I turned sixteen-which happened to be in five days, the exact same time Typhon was supposed to hit New York. Almost forgot that. \"Well,\" Chiron said, \"I think that's enough for one night.\" He waved his hand and the steam dissipated. The stormy battle of Typhon and the gods disappeared. \"That's an understatement,\" I muttered. And the war council adjourned.

CHAPTER FOUR WE BURN A METAL SHROUD I dreamed Rachel Elizabeth Dare was throwing darts at my picture. She was standing in her room . . . Okay, back up. I have to explain that Rachel doesn't have a room. She has the top floor of her family's mansion, which is a renovated brownstone in Brooklyn. Her \"room\" is a huge loft with industrial lighting and floor-to-ceiling windows. It's about twice as big as my mom's apartment. Some alt rock was blaring from her paint-covered Bose docking system. As far as I could tell, Rachel's only rule about music was that no two songs on her iPod couldsound the same, and they all had to be strange. She wore a kimono, and her hair was frizzy, like she'd been sleeping. Her bed was messed up. Sheets hung over a bunch of artist's easels. Dirty clothes and old energy bar wrappers were strewn around the floor, but when you've got a room that big, the mess doesn't look so bad. Out the windows you could see the entire nighttime skyline of Manhattan. The picture she was attacking was a painting of me standing over the giant Antaeus. Rachel had painted it a couple of months ago. My expression in the picture was fierce-disturbing, even-so it was hard to tell if I was the good guy or the bad guy, but Rachel said

I'd looked just like that after the battle. \"Demigods,\" Rachel muttered as she threw another dart at the canvas. \"And their stupid quests.\" Most of the darts bounced off, but a few stuck. One hung off my chin like a goatee. Someone pounded on her bedroom door. \"Rachel!\" a man shouted. \"What in the world are you doing? Turn off that-\" Rachel scooped up her remote control and shut off the music. \"Come in!\" Her dad walked in, scowling and blinking from the light. He had rust-colored hair a little darker than Rachel's. It was smushed on one side like he'd lost a fight with his pillow. His blue silk pajamas had \"WD\" monogrammed on the pocket. Seriously, who has monogrammed pajamas? \"What is going on?\" he demanded. \"It's three in the morning.\" \"Couldn't sleep,\" Rachel said. On the painting, a dart fell off my face. Rachel hid the rest behind her back, but Mr. Dare noticed. \"So . . . I take it your friend isn't coming to St. Thomas?\" That's what Mr. Dare called me. Never Percy. Just your friend. Or young man if he was talking to me, which he rarely did. Rachel knit her eyebrows. \"I don't know.\" \"We leave in the morning,\" her dad said. \"If he hasn't made up his mind yet-\" \"He's probably not coming,\" Rachel said miserably. \"Happy?\" Mr. Dare put his hands behind his back. He paced the room

with a stern expression. I imagined he did that in the boardroom of his land development company and made his employees nervous. \"Are you still having bad dreams?\" he asked. \"Headaches?\" Rachel threw her darts on the floor. \"I should never have told you about that.\" \"I'm your father,\" he said. \"I'm worried about you.\" \"Worried about the family's reputation,\" Rachel muttered. Her father didn't react-maybe because he'd heard that comment before, or maybe because it was true. \"We could call Dr. Arkwright,\" he suggested. \"He helped you get through the death of your hamster.\" \"I was six then,\" she said. \"And no, Dad, I don't need a therapist. I just . . .\" She shook her head helplessly. Her father stopped in front of the windows. He gazed at the New York skyline as if he owned it-which wasn't true. He only owned part of it. \"It will be good for you to get away,\" he decided. \"You've had some unhealthy influences.\" \"I'm not going to Clarion Ladies Academy,\" Rachel said. \"And my friends are none of your business.\" Mr. Dare smiled, but it wasn't a warm smile. It was more like, Someday you'll realize how silly you sound. \"Try to get some sleep,\" he urged. \"We'll be at the beach by tomorrow night. It will be fun.\" \"Fun,\" Rachel repeated. \"Lots of fun.\" Her father exited the room. He left the door open behind him. Rachel stared at the portrait of me. Then she walked to the easel

next to it, which was covered in a sheet. \"I hope they're dreams,\" she said. She uncovered the easel. On it was a hastily sketched charcoal, but Rachel was a good artist. The picture was definitely Luke as a young boy. He was about nine years old, with a wide grin and no scar on his face. I had no idea how Rachel could've known what he looked like back then, but the portrait was so good I had a feeling she wasn't guessing. From what I knew about Luke's life (which wasn't much), the picture showed him just before he'd found out he was a half-blood and had run away from home. Rachel stared at the portrait. Then she uncovered the next easel. This picture was even more disturbing. It showed the Empire State Building with lightning all around it. In the distance a dark storm was brewing, with a huge hand coming out of the clouds. At the base of the building a crowd had gathered . . . but it wasn't a normal crowd of tourists and pedestrians. I saw spears, javelins, and ban- ners-the trappings of an army. \"Percy,\" Rachel muttered, as if she knew I was listening, \"what is going on?\" The dream faded, and the last thing I remember was wishing I could answer her question. The next morning, I wanted to call her, but there were no phones at camp. Dionysus and Chiron didn't need a landline. They just called Olympus with an Iris-message whenever they needed something. And when demigods use cell phones, the signals agitate every monster within a hundred miles. It's like sending up a flare: Here I am! Please rearrange my face! Even within the safe borders of camp, that's not the kind of advertising we wanted to do. Most demigods (except for Annabeth and a few others) don't

even own cell phones. And I definitely couldn't tell Annabeth, \"Hey, let me borrow your phone so I can call Rachel!\" To make the call, I would've had to leave camp and walk several miles to the nearest convenience store. Even if Chiron let me go, by the time I got there, Rachel would've been on the plane to St. Thomas. I ate a depressing breakfast by myself at the Poseidon table. I kept staring at the fissure in the marble floor where two years ago Nico had banished a bunch of bloodthirsty skeletons to the Underworld. The memory didn't exactly improve my appetite. After breakfast, Annabeth and I walked down to inspect the cabins. Actually, it was Annabeth's turn for inspection. My morning chore was to sort through reports for Chiron. But since we both hated our jobs, we decided to do them together so it wouldn't be so heinous. We started at the Poseidon cabin, which was basically just me. I'd made my bunk bed that morning (well, sort of) and straightened the Minotaur horn on the wall, so I gave myself a four out of five. Annabeth made a face. \"You're being generous.\" She used the end of her pencil to pick up an old pair of running shorts. I snatched them away. \"Hey, give me a break. I don't have Tyson cleaning up after me this summer.\" \"Three out of five,\" Annabeth said. I knew better than to argue, so we moved along. I tried to skim through Chiron's stack of reports as we walked. There were messages from demigods, nature spirits, and satyrs all around the country, writing about the latest monster activity. They were pretty depressing, and my ADHD brain did not like concentrating on depressing stuff. Little battles were raging everywhere. Camp recruitment was

down to zero. Satyrs were having trouble finding new demigods and bringing them to Half-Blood Hill because so many monsters were roaming the country. Our friend Thalia, who led the Hunters of Artemis, hadn't been heard from in months, and if Artemis knew what had happened to them, she wasn't sharing information. We visited the Aphrodite cabin, which of course got a five out of five. The beds were perfectly made. The clothes in everyone's footlockers were color coordinated. Fresh flowers bloomed on the windowsills. I wanted to dock a point because the whole place reeked of designer perfume, but Annabeth ignored me. \"Great job as usual, Silena,\" Annabeth said. Silena nodded listlessly. The wall behind her bed was decorated with pictures of Beckendorf. She sat on her bunk with a box of chocolates on her lap, and I remembered that her dad owned a chocolate store in the Village, which was how he'd caught the attention of Aphrodite. \"You want a bonbon?\" Silena asked. \"My dad sent them. He thought-he thought they might cheer me up.\" \"Are they any good?\" I asked. She shook her head. \"They taste like cardboard.\" I didn't have anything against cardboard, so I tried one. Annabeth passed. We promised to see Silena later and kept going. As we crossed the commons area, a fight broke out between the Ares and Apollo cabins. Some Apollo campers armed with firebombs flew over the Ares cabin in a chariot pulled by two pegasi. I'd never seen the chariot before, but it looked like a pretty sweet ride. Soon, the roof of the Ares cabin was burning, and naiads from the canoe lake rushed over to blow water on it.

Then the Ares campers called down a curse, and all the Apollo kids' arrows turned to rubber. The Apollo kids kept shooting at the Ares kids, but the arrows bounced off. Two archers ran by, chased by an angry Ares kid who was yelling in poetry: \"Curse me, eh? I'll make you pay! / I don't want to rhyme all day!\" Annabeth sighed. \"Not that again. Last time Apollo cursed a cabin, it took a week for the rhyming couplets to wear off.\" I shuddered. Apollo was god of poetry as well as archery, and I'd heard him recite in person. I'd almost rather yet shot by an arrow. \"What are they fighting about anyway?\" I asked. Annabeth ignored me while she scribbled on her inspection scroll, giving both cabins a one out of five. I found myself staring at her, which was stupid since I'd seen her a billion times. She and I were about the same height this summer, which was a relief. Still, she seemed so much more mature. It was kind of intimidating. I mean, sure, she'd always been cute, but she was starting to be seriously beautiful. Finally she said, \"That flying chariot.\" \"What?\" \"You asked what they were fighting about.\" \"Oh. Oh, right.\" \"They captured it in a raid in Philadelphia last week. Some of Luke's demigods were there with that flying chariot. The Apollo cabin seized it during the battle, but the Ares cabin led the raid. So they've been fighting about who gets it ever since.\" We ducked as Michael Yew's chariot dive-bombed an Ares

camper. The Ares camper tried to stab him and cuss him out in rhyming couplets. He was pretty creative about rhyming those cuss words. \"We're fighting for our lives,\" I said, \"and they're bickering about some stupid chariot.\" \"They'll get over it,\" Annabeth said. \"Clarisse will come to her senses.\" I wasn't so sure. That didn't sound like the Clarisse I knew. I scanned more reports and we inspected a few more cabins. Demeter got a four. Hephaestus got a three and probably should've gotten lower, but with Beckendorf being gone and all, we cut them some slack. Hermes got a two, which was no surprise. All campers who didn't know their godly parentage were shoved into the Hermes cabin, and since the gods were kind of forgetful, that cabin was always overcrowded. Finally we got to Athena's cabin, which was orderly and clean as usual. Books were straightened on the shelves. The armor was polished. Battle maps and blueprints decorated the walls. Only Annabeth's bunk was messy. It was covered in papers, and her silver laptop was still running. \"Vlacas,\" Annabeth muttered, which was basically calling herself an idiot in Greek. Her second-in-command, Malcolm, suppressed a smile. \"Yeah, um . . . we cleaned everything else. Didn't know if it was safe to move your notes.\" That was probably smart. Annabeth had a bronze knife that she reserved just for monsters and people who messed with her stuff. Malcolm grinned at me. \"We'll wait outside while you finish

inspection.\" The Athena campers filed out the door while Annabeth cleaned up her bunk. I shuffled uneasily and pretended to go through some more reports. Technically, even on inspection, it was against camp rules for two campers to be . . . like, alone in a cabin. That rule had come up a lot when Silena and Beckendorf started dating. And I know some of you might be thinking, Aren't all demigods related on the godly side, and doesn't that make dating gross? But the thing is, the godly side of your family doesn't count, genetically speaking, since gods don't have DNA. A demigod would never think about dating someone who had the same godly parent. Like two kids from Athena cabin? No way. But a daughter of Aphrodite and a son of Hephaestus? They're not related. So it's no problem. Anyway, for some strange reason I was thinking about this as I watched Annabeth straighten up. She closed her laptop, which had been given to her as a gift from the inventor Daedalus last summer. I cleared my throat. \"So . . . get any good info from that thing?\" \"Too much,\" she said. \"Daedalus had so many ideas, I could spend fifty years just trying to figure them all out.\" \"Yeah,\" I muttered. \"That would be fun.\" She shuffled her papers-mostly drawings of buildings and a bunch of handwritten notes. I knew she wanted to be an architect someday, but I'd learned the hard way not to ask what she was working on. She'd start talking about angles and load-bearing joints until my eyes glazed over. \"You know . . .\" She brushed her hair behind her ear, like she does when she's nervous. \"This whole thing with Beckendorf and Silena. It kind of makes you think. About . . . what's important. About losing

people who are important.\" I nodded. My brain started seizing on little random details, like the fact that she was still wearing those silver owl earrings from her dad, who was this brainiac military history professor in San Francisco. \"Urn, yeah,\" I stammered. \"Like . . . is everything cool with your family?\" Okay, really stupid question, but hey, I was nervous. Annabeth looked disappointed, but she nodded. \"My dad wanted to take me to Greece this summer,\" she said wistfully. \"I've always wanted to see-\" \"The Parthenon,\" I remembered. She managed a smile. \"Yeah.\" \"That's okay. There'll be other summers, right?\" As soon as I said it, I realized it was a boneheaded comment. I was facing the end of my days. Within a week, Olympus might fall. If the Age of the Gods really did end, the world as we knew it would dissolve into chaos. Demigods would be hunted to extinction. There would be no more summers for us. Annabeth stared at her inspection scroll. \"Three out five,\" she muttered, \"for a sloppy head counselor. Come on. Let's finish your reports and get back to Chiron.\" On the way to the Big House, we read the last report, which was handwritten on a maple leaf from a satyr in Canada. If possible, the note made me feel even worse. \" 'Dear Grover,'\" I read aloud. \" 'Woods outside Toronto attacked by giant evil badger. Tried to do as you suggested and summon power of Pan. No effect. Many naiads' trees destroyed. Retreating to

Ottawa. Please advise. Where are you? -Gleeson Hedge, protector.'\" Annabeth grimaced. \"You haven't heard anything from him? Even with your empathy link?\" I shook my head dejectedly. Ever since last summer when the god Pan had died, our friend Grover had been drifting farther and farther away. The Council of Cloven Elders treated him like an outcast, but Grover still traveled all over the East Coast, trying to spread the word about Pan and convince nature spirits to protect their own little bits of the wild. He'd only come back to camp a few times to see his girlfriend, Juniper. Last I'd heard he was in Central Park organizing the dryads, but nobody had seen or heard from him in two months. We'd tried to send Iris-messages. They never got through. I had an empathy link with Grover, so I hoped I would know if anything bad happened to him. Grover had told me one time that if he died, the empathy link might kill me too. But I wasn't sure if that was still true or not. I wondered if he was still in Manhattan. Then I thought about my dream of Rachel's sketch-dark clouds closing on the city, an army gathered around the Empire State Building. \"Annabeth.\" I stopped her by the tetherball court. I knew I was asking for trouble, but I didn't know who else to trust. Plus, I'd always depended on Annabeth for advice. \"Listen, I had this dream about, um, Rachel . . .\" I told her the whole thing, even the weird picture of Luke as a child. For a while she didn't say anything. Then she rolled up her inspection scroll so tight she ripped it. \"What do you want me to say?\"

\"I'm not sure. You're the best strategist I know. If you were Kronos planning this war, what would you do next?\" \"I'd use Typhon as a distraction. Then I'd hit Olympus directly, while the gods were in the West.\" \"Just like in Rachel's picture.\" \"Percy,\" she said, her voice tight, \"Rachel is just a mortal.\" \"But what if her dream is true? Those other Titans-they said Olympus would be destroyed in a matter of days. They said they had plenty of other challenges. And what's with that picture of Luke as a kid-\" \"We'll just have to be ready.\" \"How?\" I said. \"Look at our camp. We can't even stop fighting each other. And I'm supposed to get my stupid soul reaped.\" She threw down her scroll. \"I knew we shouldn't have shown you the prophecy.\" Her voice was angry and hurt. \"All it did was scare you. You run away from things when you're scared.\" I stared at her, completely stunned. \"Me? Run away?\" She got right in my face. \"Yes, you. You're a coward, Percy Jackson!\" We were nose to nose. Her eyes were red, and I suddenly realized that when she called me a coward, maybe she wasn't talking about the prophecy. \"If you don't like our chances,\" she said, \"maybe you should go on that vacation with Rachel.\" \"Annabeth-\" \"If you don't like our company.\" \"That's not fair!\"

She pushed past me and stormed toward the strawberry fields. She hit the tetherball as she passed and sent it spinning angrily around the pole. I'd like to say my day got better from there. Of course it didn't. That afternoon we had an assembly at the campfire to burn Beckendorf's burial shroud and say our good-byes. Even the Ares and Apollo cabins called a temporary truce to attend. Beckendorf's shroud was made out of metal links, like chain mail. I didn't see how it would burn, but the Fates must've been helping out. The metal melted in the fire and turned to golden smoke, which rose into the sky. The campfire flames always reflected the campers' moods, and today they burned black. I hoped Beckendorf's spirit would end up in Elysium. Maybe he'd even choose to be reborn and try for Elysium in three different lifetimes so he could reach the Isles of the Blest, which was like the Underworld's ultimate party headquarters. If anyone deserved it, Beckendorf did. Annabeth left without a word to me. Most of the other campers drifted off to their afternoon activities. I just stood there staring at the dying fire. Silena sat nearby crying, while Clarisse and her boyfriend, Chris Rodriguez, tried to comfort her. Finally I got up the nerve to walk over. \"Hey, Silena, I'm really sorry.\" She sniffled. Clarisse glared at me, but she always glares at everyone. Chris would barely look at me. He'd been one of Luke's men until Clarisse rescued him from the Labyrinth last summer, and I guess he still felt guilty about it. I cleared my throat. \"Silena, you know Beckendorf carried your picture. He looked at it right before we went into battle. You meant a

lot to him. You made the last year the best of his life.\" Silena sobbed. \"Good work, Percy,\" Clarisse muttered. \"No, it's all right,\" Silena said. \"Thank . . . thank you, Percy. I should go.\" \"You want company?\" Clarisse asked. Silena shook her head and ran off. \"She's stronger than she looks,\" Clarisse muttered, almost to herself. \"She'll survive.\" \"You could help with that,\" I suggested. \"You could honor Beckendorf's memory by fighting with us.\" Clarisse went for her knife, but it wasn't there anymore. She'd thrown it on the Ping-Pong table in the Big House. \"Not my problem,\" she growled. \"My cabin doesn't get honor, I don't fight.\" I noticed she wasn't speaking in rhymes. Maybe she hadn't been around when her cabinmates got cursed, or maybe she had a way of breaking the spell. With a chill, I wondered if Clarisse could be Kronos's spy at camp. Was that why she was keeping her cabin out of the fight? But as much as I disliked Clarisse, spying for the Titans didn't seem like her style. \"All right,\" I told her. \"I didn't want to bring this up, but you owe me one. You'd be rotting in a Cyclops's cave in the Sea of Monsters if it wasn't for me.\" She clenched her jaw. \"Any other favor, Percy. Not this. The Ares cabin has been dissed too many times. And don't think I don't know what people say about me behind my back.\"

I wanted to say, Well, it's true. But I bit my tongue. \"So, what-you're just going to let Kronos crush us?\" I asked. \"If you want my help so bad, tell Apollo to give us the chariot.\" \"You're such a big baby.\" She charged me, but Chris got between us. \"Whoa, guys,\" he said. \"Clarisse, you know, maybe he's got a point.\" She sneered at him. \"Not you too!\" She trudged off with Chris at her heels. \"Hey, wait! I just meant-Clarisse, wait!\" I watched the last sparks from Beckendorf's fire curl into the afternoon sky. Then I headed toward the sword-fighting arena. I needed a break, and I wanted to see an old friend.

CHAPTER FIVE I DRIVE MY DOG INTO A TREE Mrs. O'Leary saw me before I saw her, which was a pretty good trick considering she's the size of a garbage truck. I walked into the arena, and a wall of darkness slammed into me. \"WOOF!\" The next thing I knew I was flat on the ground with a huge paw on my chest and an oversize Brillo-pad tongue licking my face. \"Ow!\" I said. \"Hey, girl. Good to see you too. Ow!\" It took a few minutes for Mrs. O'Leary to calm down and get off me. By then I was pretty much drenched in dog drool. She wanted to play fetch, so I picked up a bronze shield and tossed it across the arena. By the way, Mrs. O'Leary is the world's only friendly hellhound. I kind of inherited her when her previous owner died. She lived at camp, but Beckendorf . . . well, Beckendorf used to take care of her whenever I was gone. He had smelted Mrs. O'Leary's favorite bronze chewing bone. He'd forged her collar with the little smiley face and a crossbones name tag. Next to me, Beckendorf had been her best friend. Thinking about that made me sad all over again, but I threw the shield a few more times because Mrs. O'Leary insisted.

Soon she started barking-a sound slightly louder than an artillery gun-like she needed to go for a walk. The other campers didn't think it was funny when she went to the bathroom in the arena. It had caused more than one unfortunate slip-and-slide accident. So I opened the gates of the arena, and she bounded straight toward the woods. I jogged after her, not too concerned that she was getting ahead. Nothing in the woods could threaten Mrs. O'Leary. Even the dragons and giant scorpions ran away when she came close. When I finally tracked her down, she wasn't using the facilities. She was in a familiar clearing where the Council of Cloven Elders had once put Grover on trial. The place didn't look so good. The grass had turned yellow. The three topiary thrones had lost all their leaves. But that's not what surprised me. In the middle of the glade stood the weirdest trio I'd ever seen: Juniper the tree nymph, Nico di Angelo, and a very old, very fat satyr. Nico was the only one who didn't seem freaked out by Mrs. O'Leary's appearance. He looked pretty much like I'd seen him in my dream-an aviator's jacket, black jeans, and a T-shirt with dancing skeletons on it, like one of those Day of the Dead pictures. His Stygian iron sword hung at his side. He was only twelve, but he looked much older and sadder. He nodded when he saw me, then went back to scratching Mrs. O'Leary's ears. She sniffed his legs like he was the most interesting thing since rib-eye steaks. Being the son of Hades, he'd probably been traveling in all sorts of hellhound-friendly places. The old satyr didn't look nearly so happy. \"Will someone-what is this underworld creature doing in my forest!\" He waved his arms and trotted on his hooves as if the grass were hot. \"You there, Percy

Jackson! Is this your beast?\" \"Sorry, Leneus,\" I said. \"That's your name, right?\" The satyr rolled his eyes. His fur was dust-bunny gray, and a spiderweb grew between his horns. His belly would've made him an invincible bumper car. \"Well, of course I'm Leneus. Don't tell me you've forgotten a member of the Council so quickly. Now, call off your beast!\" \"WOOF!\" Mrs. O'Leary said happily. The old satyr gulped. \"Make it go away! Juniper, I will not help you under these circumstances!\" Juniper turned toward me. She was pretty in a dryad-y way, with her purple gossamer dress and her elfish face, but her eyes were green- tinted with chlorophyll from crying. \"Percy,\" she sniffled. \"I was just asking about Grover. I know something's happened. He wouldn't stay gone this long if he wasn't in trouble. I was hoping that Leneus-\" \"I told you!\" the satyr protested. \"You are better off without that traitor.\" Juniper stamped her foot. \"He is not a traitor! He's the bravest satyr ever, and I want to know where he is!\" \"WOOF!\" Leneus's knees started knocking. \"I . . . I won't answer questions with this hellhound sniffing my tail!\" Nico looked like he was trying to not crack up. \"I'll walk the dog,\" he volunteered. He whistled, and Mrs. O'Leary bounded after him to the far end of the grove.

Leneus huffed indignantly and brushed the twigs off his shirt. \"Now, as I was trying to explain, young lady, your boyfriend has not sent any reports since we voted him into exile.\" \"You tried to vote him into exile,\" I corrected. \"Chiron and Dionysus stopped you.\" \"Bah! They are honorary Council members. It wasn't a proper vote.\" \"I'll tell Dionysus you said that.\" Leneus paled. \"I only meant . . . Now see here, Jackson. This is none of your business.\" \"Grover's my friend,\" I said. \"He wasn't lying to you about Pan's death. I saw it myself. You were just too scared to accept the truth.\" Leneus's lips quivered. \"No! Grover's a liar and good riddance. We're better off without him.\" I pointed at the withered thrones. \"If things are going so well, where are your friends? Looks like your Council hasn't been meeting lately.\" \"Maron and Silenus . . . I . . . I'm sure they'll be back,\" he said, but I could hear the panic in his voice. \"They're just taking some time off to think. It's been a very unsettling year. \"It's going to get a lot more unsettling,\" I promised. \"Leneus, we need Grover. There's got to be a way you can find him with your magic.\" The old satyr's eye twitched. \"I'm telling you, I've heard nothing. Perhaps he's dead.\" Juniper choked back a sob. \"He's not dead,\" I said. \"I can feel that much.\" \"Empathy links,\" Leneus said disdainfully. \"Very unreliable.\"

\"So ask around,\" I insisted. \"Find him. There's a war coming. Grover was preparing the nature spirits.\" \"Without my permission! And it's not our war.\" I grabbed him by the shirt, which seriously wasn't like me, but the stupid old goat was making me mad. \"Listen, Leneus. When Kronos attacks, he's going to have packs of hellhounds. He's going to destroy everything in his path-mortals, gods, demigods. Do you think he'll let the satyrs go free? You're supposed to be a leader. So LEAD. Get out there and see what's happening. Find Grover and bring Juniper some news. Now, GO!\" I didn't push him very hard, but he was kind of top-heavy. He fell on his furry rump, then scrambled to his hooves and ran away with his belly jiggling. \"Grover will never be accepted! He will die an outcast!\" When he'd disappeared into the bushes, Juniper wiped her eyes. \"I'm sorry, Percy. I didn't mean to get you involved. Leneus is still a lord of the Wild. You don't want to make an enemy of him.\" \"No problem,\" I said. \"I've got worse enemies than overweight satyrs.\" Nico walked back to us. \"Good job, Percy. Judging from the trail of goat pellets, I'd say you shook him up pretty well.\" I was afraid I knew why Nico was here, but I tried for a smile. \"Welcome back. Did you come by just to see Juniper?\" He blushed. \"Um, no. That was an accident. I kind of . . . dropped into the middle of their conversation.\" \"He scared us to death!\" Juniper said. \"Right out of the shadows. But, Nico, you are the son of Hades and all. Are you sure you haven't heard anything about Grover?\"

Nico shifted his weight. \"Juniper, like I tried to tell you . . . even if Grover died, he would reincarnate into something else in nature. I can't sense things like that, only mortal souls.\" \"But if you do hear anything?\" she pleaded, putting her hand on his arm. \"Anything at all?\" Nico's cheeks got even brighter red. \"Uh, you bet. I'll keep my ears open.\" \"We'll find him, Juniper,\" I promised. \"Grover's alive, I'm sure. There must be a simple reason why he hasn't contacted us.\" She nodded glumly. \"I hate not being able to leave the forest. He could be anywhere, and I'm stuck here waiting. Oh, if that silly goat has gotten himself hurt-\" Mrs. O'Leary bounded back over and took an interest in Juniper's dress. Juniper yelped. \"Oh, no you don't! I know about dogs and trees. I'm gone!\" She went poof into green mist. Mrs. O'Leary looked disappointed, but she lumbered off to find another target, leaving Nico and me alone. Nico tapped his sword on the ground. A tiny mound of animal bones erupted from the dirt. They knit themselves together into a skeletal field mouse and scampered off. \"I was sorry to hear about Beckendorf.\" A lump formed in my throat. \"How did you-\" \"I talked to his ghost.\" \"Oh . . . right.\" I'd never get used to the fact that this twelve-year-old kid spent more time talking with the dead than the living. \"Did he say anything?\"

\"He doesn't blame you. He figured you'd be beating yourself up, and he said you shouldn't.\" \"Is he going to try for rebirth?\" Nico shook his head. \"He's staying in Elysium. Said he's waiting for someone. Not sure what he meant, but he seems okay with death.\" It wasn't much comfort, but it was something. \"I had a vision you were on Mount Tarn,\" I told Nico. \"Was that-\" \"Real,\" he said. \"I didn't mean to be spying on the Titans, but I was in the neighborhood.\" \"Doing what?\" Nico tugged at his sword belt. \"Following a lead on . . . you know, my family.\" I nodded. I knew his past was a painful subject. Until two years ago, he and his sister Bianca had been frozen in time at a place called the Lotus Hotel and Casino. They'd been there for like seventy years. Eventually a mysterious lawyer rescued them and checked them into a boarding school, but Nico had no memories of his life before the casino. He didn't know anything about his mother. He didn't know who the lawyer was, or why they'd been frozen in time or allowed to go free. After Bianca died and left Nico alone, he'd been obsessed with finding answers. \"So how did it go?\" I asked. \"Any luck?\" \"No,\" he murmured. \"But I may have a new lead soon.\" \"What's the lead?\" Nico chewed his lip. \"That's not important right now. You know why I'm here.\" A feeling of dread started to build in my chest. Ever since Nico first

proposed his plan for beating Kronos last summer, I'd had nightmares about it. He would show up occasionally and press me for an answer, but I kept putting him off. \"Nico, I don't know,\" I said. \"It seems pretty extreme.\" \"You've got Typhon coming in, what . . . a week? Most of the other Titans are unleashed now and on Kronos's side. Maybe it's time to think extreme.\" I looked back toward the camp. Even from this distance I could hear the Ares and Apollo campers fighting again, yelling curses and spouting bad poetry. \"They're no match for the Titan army,\" Nico said. \"You know that. This comes down to you and Luke. And there's only one way you can beat Luke.\" I remembered the fight on the Princess Andromeda. I'd been hopelessly outmatched. Kronos had almost killed me with a single cut to my arm, and I couldn't even wound him. Riptide had glanced right off his skin. \"We can give you the same power,\" Nico urged. \"You heard the Great Prophecy. Unless you want to have your soul reaped by a cursed blade . . .\" I wondered how Nico had heard the prophecy- probably from some ghost. \"You can't prevent a prophecy,\" I said. \"But you can fight it.\" Nico had a strange, hungry light m his eyes. \"You can become invincible.\" \"Maybe we should wait. Try to fight without-\" \"No!\" Nico snarled. \"It has to be now!\"

I stared at him. I hadn't seen his temper flare like that in a long time. \"Urn, you sure you're okay?\" He took a deep breath. \"Percy, all I mean . . . when the fighting starts, we won't be able to make the journey. This is our last chance. I'm sorry if I'm being too pushy, but two years ago my sister gave her life to protect you. I want you to honor that. Do whatever it takes to stay alive and defeat Kronos.\" I didn't like the idea. Then I thought about Annabeth calling me a coward, and I got angry. Nico had a point. If Kronos attacked New York, the campers would be no match for his forces. I had to do something. Nico's way was dangerous-maybe even deadly. But it might give me a fighting edge. \"All right,\" I decided. \"What do we do first?\" His cold creepy smile made me sorry I'd agreed. \"First we'll need to retrace Luke's steps. We need to know more about his past, his childhood.\" I shuddered, thinking about Rachel's picture from my dream-a smiling nine-year-old Luke. \"Why do we need to know about that?\" \"I'll explain when we get there,\" Nico said. \"I've already tracked down his mother. She lives in Connecticut.\" I stared at him. I'd never thought much about Luke's mortal parent. I'd met his dad, Hermes, but his mom . . . \"Luke ran away when he was really young,\" I said. \"I didn't think his mom was alive.\" \"Oh, she's alive.\" The way he said it made me wonder what was wrong with her. What kind of horrible person could she be? \"Okay . . .\" I said. \"So how do we get to Connecticut? I can call

Blackjack-\" \"No.\" Nico scowled. \"Pegasi don't like me, and the feeling is mutual. But there's no need for flying.\" He whistled, and Mrs. O'Leary came loping out of the woods. \"Your friend here can help.\" Nico patted her head. \"You haven't tried shadow travel yet?\" \"Shadow travel?\" Nico whispered in Mrs. O'Leary's ear. She tilted her head, suddenly alert. \"Hop on board,\" Nico told me. I'd never considered riding a dog before, bur Mrs. O'Leary was certainly big enough. I climbed onto her back and held her collar. \"This will make her very tired,\" Nico warned, \"so you can't do it often. And it works best at night. But all shadows are part of the same substance. There is only one darkness, and creatures of the Underworld can use it as a road, or a door.\" \"I don't understand,\" I said. \"No,\" Nico said. \"It took me a long time to learn. But Mrs. O'Leary knows. Tell her where to go. Tell her Westport, the home of May Castellan.\" \"You're not coming?\" \"Don't worry,\" he said. \"I'll meet you there.\" I was a little nervous, but I leaned down to Mrs. O'Leary's ear. \"Okay, girl. Uh, can you take me to Westport, Connecticut? May Castellan's place?\" Mrs. O'Leary sniffed the air. She looked into the gloom of the forest. Then she bounded forward, straight into an oak tree.

Just before we hit, we passed into shadows as cold as the dark side of the moon.

CHAPTER SIX MY COOKIES GET SCORCHED I don't recommend shadow travel if you're scared of: a) The dark b) Cold shivers up your spine c) Strange noises d) Going so fast you feel like your face is peeling off In other words, I thought it was awesome. One minute I couldn't see anything. I could only feel Mrs. O'Leary's fur and my fingers wrapped around the bronze links of her dog collar. The next minute the shadows melted into a new scene. We were on a cliff in the woods of Connecticut. At least, it looked like Connecticut from the few times I'd been there: lots of trees, low stone walls, big houses. Down one side of the cliff, a highway cut through a ravine. Down the other side was someone's backyard. The property was huge-more wilderness than lawn. The house was a two-story white Colonial. Despite the fact that it was right on the other side of the hill from a highway, it felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. I could see a light glowing m the kitchen window. A rusty old swing set stood under an apple tree. I couldn't imagine living in a house like this, with an actual yard and everything. I'd lived in a tiny apartment or a school dorm my whole

life. If this was Luke's home, I wondered why he'd ever wanted to leave. Mrs. O'Leary staggered. I remembered what Nico had said about shadow travel draining her, so I slipped off her back. She let out a huge toothy yawn that would've scared a T. rex, then turned in a circle and flopped down so hard the ground shook. Nico appeared right next to me, as if the shadows had darkened and created him. He stumbled, but I caught his arm. \"I'm okay,\" he managed, rubbing his eyes. \"How did you do that?\" \"Practice. A few times running into walls. A few accidental trips to China.\" Mrs. O'Leary started snoring. If it hadn't been for the roar of traffic behind us, I'm sure she would've woken up the whole neighborhood. \"Are you going to take a nap too?\" I asked Nico. He shook his head. \"The first time I shadow traveled, I passed out for a week. Now it just makes me a little drowsy, but I can't do it more than once or twice a night. Mrs. O'Leary won't be going anywhere for a while.\" \"So we've got some quality time in Connecticut.\" I gazed at the white Colonial house. \"What now?\" \"We ring the doorbell,\" Nico said. If I were Luke's mom, I would not have opened my door at night for two strange kids. But I wasn't anything like Luke's mom. I knew that even before we reached the front door. The sidewalk was lined with those little stuffed beanbag animals you see in gift shops. There were miniature lions, pigs, dragons, hydras, even a teeny

Minotaur in a little Minotaur diaper. Judging from their sad shape, the beanbag creatures had been sitting out here a long time-since the snow melted last spring at least. One of the hydras had a tree sapling sprouting between its necks. The front porch was infested with wind chimes. Shiny bits of glass and metal clinked in the breeze. Brass ribbons tinkled like water and made me realize I needed to use the bathroom. I didn't know how Ms. Castellan could stand all the noise. The front door was painted turquoise. The name CASTELLAN was written in English, and below in Greek: Διοικητής φρουρίου. Nico looked at me. \"Ready?\" He'd barely tapped the door when it swung open. \"Luke!\" the old lady cried happily. She looked like someone who enjoyed sticking her fingers in electrical sockets. Her white hair stuck out in tufts all over her head. Her pink housedress was covered in scorch marks and smears of ash. When she smiled, her face looked unnaturally stretched, and the high-voltage light in her eves made me wonder if she was blind. \"Oh, my dear boy!\" She hugged Nico. I was trying to figure out why she thought Nico was Luke (they looked absolutely nothing alike), when she smiled at me and said, \"Luke!\" She forgot all about Nico and gave me a hug. She smelled like burned cookies. She was as thin as a scarecrow, but that didn't stop her from almost crushing me. \"Come in!\" she insisted. \"I have your lunch ready!\" She ushered us inside. The living room was even weirder than the front lawn. Mirrors and candles filled every available space. I couldn't look anywhere without seeing my own reflection. Above the

mantel, a little bronze Hermes flew around the second hand of a ticking clock. I tried to imagine the god of messengers ever falling in love with this old woman, but the idea was too bizarre. Then I noticed the framed picture on the mantel, and I froze. It was exactly like Rachel's sketch-Luke around nine years old, with blond hair and a big smile and two missing teeth. The lack of a scar on his face made him look like a different person-carefree and happy. How could Rachel have known about that picture? \"This way, my dear!\" Ms. Castellan steered me toward the back of the house. \"Oh, I told them you would come back. I knew it!\" She sat us down at the kitchen table. Stacked on the counter were hundreds-I mean hundreds-of Tupperware boxes with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches inside. The ones on the bottom were green and fuzzy, like they'd been there for a long time. The smell reminded me of my sixth grade locker-and that's not a good thing. On top of the oven was a stack of cookie sheets. Each one had a dozen burned cookies on it. In the sink was a mountain of empty plastic Kool-Aid pitchers. A beanbag Medusa sat by the faucet like she was guarding the mess. Ms. Castellan started humming as she got out peanut butter and jelly and started making a new sandwich. Something was burning in the oven. I got the feeling more cookies were on the way. Above the sink, taped all around the window, were dozens of little pictures cut from magazines and newspaper ads-pictures of Hermes from the FTD Flowers logo and Quickie Cleaners, pictures of the caduceus from medical ads. My heart sank. I wanted to get out of that room, but Ms. Castellan kept smiling at me as she made the sandwich, like she was making sure I didn't bolt.

Nico coughed. \"Urn, Ms. Castellan?\" \"Mm?\" \"We need to ask you about your son.\" \"Oh, yes! They told me he would never come back. But I knew better.\" She patted my cheek affectionately, giving me peanut butter racing stripes. \"When did you last see him?\" Nico asked. Her eyes lost focus. \"He was so young when he left,\" she said wistfully. \"Third grade. That's too young to run away! He said he'd be back for lunch. And I waited. He likes peanut butter sandwiches and cookies and Kool- Aid. He'll be back for lunch very soon. . . .\" Then she looked at me and smiled. \"Why, Luke, there you are! You look so handsome. You have your father's eyes.\" She turned toward the pictures of Hermes above the sink. \"Now, there's a good man. Yes, indeed. He comes to visit me, you know.\" The clock kept ticking in the other room. I wiped the peanut butter off my face and looked at Nico pleadingly, like Can we get out of here now? \"Ma'am,\" Nico said. \"What, uh . . . what happened to your eyes?\" Her gaze seemed fractured-like she was trying to focus on him through a kaleidoscope. \"Why, Luke, you know the story. It was right before you were born, wasn't it? I'd always been special, able to see through the . . . whatever-they-call-it.\" \"The Mist?\" I said. \"Yes, dear.\" She nodded encouragingly. \"And they offered me an important job. That's how special I was!\"

I glanced at Nico, but he looked as confused as I was. \"What sort of job?\" I asked. \"What happened?\" Ms. Castellan frowned. Her knife hovered over the sandwich bread. \"Dear me, it didn't work out, did it? Your father warned me not to try. He said it was too dangerous. But I had to. It was my destiny! And now . . . I still can't get the images out of my head. They make everything seem so fuzzy. Would you like some cookies?\" She pulled a tray out of the oven and dumped a dozen lumps of chocolate chip charcoal on the table. \"Luke was so kind,\" Ms. Castellan murmured. \"He left to protect me, you know. He said if he went away, the monsters wouldn't threaten me. But I told him the monsters are no threat! They sit outside on the sidewalk all day, and they never come in.\" She picked up the little stuffed Medusa from the windowsill. \"Do they, Mrs. Medusa? No, no threat at all.\" She beamed at me. \"I'm so glad you came home. I knew you weren't ashamed of me!\" I shifted in my seat. I imagined being Luke sitting at this table, eight or nine years old, and just beginning to realize that my mother wasn't all there. \"Ms. Castellan,\" I said. \"Mom,\" she corrected. \"Um, yeah. Have you seen Luke since he left home?\" \"Well, of course!\" I didn't know if she was imagining that or not. For all I knew, every time the mailman came to the door he was Luke. But Nico sat forward expectantly. \"When?\" he asked. \"When did Luke visit you last?\"

\"Well, it was . . . Oh goodness . . .\" A shadow passed across her face. \"The last time, he looked so different. A scar. A terrible scar, and his voice so full of pain . . .\" \"His eyes,\" I said. \"Were they gold?\" \"Gold?\" She blinked. \"No. How silly. Luke has blue eyes. Beautiful blue eyes!\" So Luke really had been here, and this had happened before last summer-before he'd turned into Kronos. \"Ms. Castellan?\" Nico put his hand on the old woman's arm. \"This is very important. Did he ask you for anything?\" She frowned as if trying to remember. \"My-my blessing. Isn't that sweet?\" She looked at us uncertainly. \"He was going to a river, and he said he needed my blessing. I gave it to him. Of course I did.\" Nico looked at me triumphantly. \"Thank you, ma'am. That's all the information we-\" Ms. Castellan gasped. She doubled over, and her cookie tray clattered to the floor. Nico and I jumped to our feet. \"Ms. Castellan?\" I said. \"AHHHH,\" She straightened. I scrambled away and almost fell over the kitchen table, because her eyes-her eyes were glowing green. \"My child,\" she rasped in a much deeper voice. \"Must protect him! Hermes, help! Not my child! Not his fate-no!\" She grabbed Nico by the shoulders and began to shake him as if to make him understand. \"Not his fate!\" Nico made a strangled scream and pushed her away. He gripped the hilt of his sword. \"Percy, we need to get out-\" Suddenly Ms. Castellan collapsed. I lurched forward and caught her

before she could hit the edge of the table. I managed to get her into a chair. \"Ms. C?\" I asked. She muttered something incomprehensible and shook her head. \"Goodness. I . . . I dropped the cookies. How silly of me.\" She blinked, and her eyes were back to normal-or at least, what they had been before. The green glow was gone. \"Are you okay?\" I asked. \"Well, of course, dear. I'm fine. Why do you ask?\" I glanced at Nico, who mouthed the word Leave. \"Ms. C, you were telling us something,\" I said. \"Something about your son.\" \"Was I?\" she said dreamily. \"Yes, his blue eyes. We were talking about his blue eyes. Such a handsome boy!\" \"We have to go,\" Nico said urgently. \"We'll tell Luke . . . uh, we'll tell him you said hello.\" \"But you can't leave!\" Ms. Castellan got shakily to her feet, and I backed away. I felt silly being scared of a frail old woman, but the way her voice had changed, the way she'd grabbed Nico . . . \"Hermes will be here soon,\" she promised. \"He'll want to see his boy!\" \"Maybe next time,\" I said. \"Thank you for-\" I looked down at the burned cookies scattered on the floor. \"Thanks for everything.\" She tried to stop us, to offer us Kool-Aid, but I had to get out of that house. On the front porch, she grabbed my wrist and I almost jumped out of my skin. \"Luke, at least be safe. Promise me you'll be safe.\"

\"I will . . . Mom.\" That made her smile. She released my wrist, and as she closed the front door I could hear her talking to the candles: \"You hear that? He will be safe. I told you he would be!\" As the door shut, Nico and I ran. The little beanbag animals on the sidewalk seemed to grin at us as we passed. Back at the cliff, Mrs. O'Leary had found a friend. A cozy campfire crackled in a ring of stones. A girl about eight years old was sitting cross-legged next to Mrs. O'Leary, scratching the hellhound's ears. The girl had mousy brown hair and a simple brown dress. She wore a scarf over her head so she looked like a pioneer kid-like the ghost of Little House on the Prairie or something. She poked the fire with a stick, and it seemed to glow more richly red than a normal fire. \"Hello,\" she said. My first thought was: monster. When you're a demigod and you find a sweet little girl alone in the woods-that's typically a good time to draw your sword and attack. Plus, the encounter with Ms. Castellan had rattled me pretty bad. But Nico bowed to the little girl. \"Hello again, Lady.\" She studied me with eyes as red as the firelight. I decided it was safest to bow. \"Sit, Percy Jackson,\" she said. \"Would you like some dinner? After staring at moldy peanut butter sandwiches and burned cookies, I didn't have much of an appetite, but the girl waved her hand and a picnic appeared at the edge of the fire. There were plates of roast beef, baked potatoes, buttered carrots, fresh bread, and a whole bunch of other foods I hadn't had in a long time. My stomach started

to rumble. It was the kind of home-cooked meal people are supposed to have but never do. The girl made a five-foot-long dog biscuit appear for Mrs. O'Leary, who happily began tearing it to shreds. I sat next to Nico. We picked up our food, and I was about to dig in when I thought better of it. I scraped part of my meal into the flames, the way we do at camp. \"For the gods,\" I said. The little girl smiled. \"Thank you. As tender of the flame, I get a share of every sacrifice, you know.\" \"I recognize you now,\" I said. \"The first time I came to camp, you were sitting by the fire, in the middle of the commons area.\" \"You did not stop to talk,\" the girl recalled sadly. \"Alas, most never do. Nico talked to me. He was the first in many years. Everyone rushes about. No time for visiting family.\" \"You're Hestia,\" I said. \"Goddess of the Hearth.\" She nodded. Okay . . . so she looked eight years old. I didn't ask. I'd learned that gods could look any way they pleased. \"My lady,\" Nico asked, \"why aren't you with the other Olympians, fighting Typhon?\" \"I'm not much for fighting.\" Her red eyes flickered. I realized they weren't just reflecting the flames. They were filled with flames-but not like Ares's eyes. Hestia's eyes were warm and cozy. \"Besides,\" she said, \"someone has to keep the home fires burning while the other gods are away.\" \"So you're guarding Mount Olympus?\" I asked. \"'Guard' may be too strong a word. But if you ever need a warm

place to sit and a home-cooked meal, you are welcome to visit. Now eat.\" My plate was empty before I knew it. Nico scarfed his down just as fast. \"That was great,\" I said. \"Thank you, Hestia.\" She nodded. \"Did you have a good visit with May Castellan?\" For a moment I'd almost forgotten the old lady with her bright eyes and her maniacal smile, the way she'd suddenly seemed possessed. \"What's wrong with her, exactly?\" I asked. \"She was born with a gift,\" Hestia said. \"She could see through the Mist.\" \"Like my mother,\" I said. And I was also thinking, Like Rachel \"But the glowing eyes thing-\" \"Some bear the curse of sight better than others,\" the goddess said sadly. \"For a while, May Castellan had many talents. She attracted the attention of Hermes himself. They had a beautiful baby boy. For a brief time, she was happy. And then she went too far.\" I remembered what Ms. Castellan had said: They offered me an important job . . . It didn't work out. I wondered what kind of job left you like that. \"One minute she was all happy,\" I said. \"And then she was freaking out about her son's fate, like she knew he'd turned into Kronos. What happened to . . . to divide her like that?\" The goddess's face darkened. \"That is a story I do not like to tell. But May Castellan saw too much. If you are to understand your enemy Luke, you must understand his family.\" I thought about the sad little pictures of Hermes taped above May

Castellan's sink. I wondered if Ms. Castellan had been so crazy when Luke was little. That green-eyed fit could've seriously scared a nine- year-old kid. And if Hermes never visited, if he'd left Luke alone with his mom all those years . . . \"No wonder Luke ran away,\" I said. \"I mean, it wasn't right to leave his mom like that, but still-he was just a kid. Hermes shouldn't have abandoned them.\" Hestia scratched behind Mrs. O'Leary's ears. The hellhound wagged her tail and accidentally knocked over a tree. \"It's easy to judge others,\" Hestia warned. \"But will you follow Luke's path? Seek the same powers?\" Nico set down his plate. \"We have no choice, my lady. It's the only way Percy stands a chance.\" \"Mmm.\" Hestia opened her hand and the fire roared. Flames shot thirty feet into the air. Heat slapped me in the face. Then the fire died back down to normal. \"Not all powers are spectacular.\" Hestia looked at me. \"Sometimes the hardest power to master is the power of yielding. Do you believe me?\" \"Uh-huh,\" I said. Anything to keep her from messing with her flame powers again. The goddess smiled. \"You are a good hero, Percy Jackson. Not too proud. I like that. But you have much to learn. When Dionysus was made a god, I gave up my throne for him. It was the only way to avoid a civil war among the gods.\" \"It unbalanced the Council,\" I remembered. \"Suddenly there were seven guys and five girls.\" Hestia shrugged. \"It was the best solution, not a perfect one. Now I

tend the fire. I fade slowly into the background. No one will ever write epic poems about the deeds of Hestia. Most demigods don't even stop to talk to me. But that is no matter. I keep the peace. I yield when necessary. Can you do this?\" \"I don't know what you mean.\" She studied me. \"Perhaps not yet. But soon. Will you continue your quest?\" \"Is that why you're here-to warn me against going?\" Hestia shook her head. \"I am here because when all else fails, when all the other mighty gods have gone off to war, I am all that's left. Home. Hearth. I am the last Olympian. You must remember me when you face your final decision. I didn't like the way she said final. I looked at Nico, then back at Hestia's warm glowing eyes. \"I have to continue, my lady. I have to stop Luke . . . I mean Kronos.\" Hestia nodded. \"Very well. I cannot be of much assistance, beyond what I have already told you. But since you sacrificed to me, I can return you to your own hearth. I will see you again, Percy, on Olympus.\" Her tone was ominous, as though our next meeting would not be happy. The goddess waved her hand, and everything faded. Suddenly I was home. Nico and I were sitting on the couch in my mom's apartment on the Upper East Side. That was the good news. The bad news was that the rest of the living room was occupied by Mrs. O'Leary. I heard a muffled yell from the bedroom. Paul's voice said, \"Who put this wall of fur in the doorway?\"

\"Percy?\" my mom called out. \"Are you here? Are you all right?\" \"I'm here!\" I shouted back. \"WOOF!\" Mrs. O'Leary tried to turn in a circle to find my mom, knocking all the pictures off the walls. She's only met my mom once before (long story), but she loves her. It took a few minutes, but we finally got things worked out. After destroying most of the furniture in the living room and probably making our neighbors really mad, we got my parents out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where we sat around the kitchen table. Mrs. O'Leary still took up the entire living room, but she'd settled her head in the kitchen doorway so she could see us, which made her happy. My mom tossed her a ten-pound family-size tube of ground beef, which disappeared down her gullet. Paul poured lemonade for the rest of us while I explained about our visit to Connecticut. \"So it's true.\" Paul stared at me like he'd never seen me before. He was wearing his white bathrobe, now covered in hellhound fur, and his salt-and-pepper hair was sticking up in every direction. \"All the talk about monsters, and being a demigod . . . it's really true.\" I nodded. Last fall I'd explained to Paul who I was. My mom had backed me up. But until this moment, I don't think he really believed us. \"Sorry about Mrs. O'Leary,\" I said, \"destroying the living room and all.\" Paul laughed like he was delighted. \"Are you kidding? This is awesome! I mean, when I saw the hoofprints on the Prius, I thought maybe. But this!\" He patted Mrs. O'Leary's snout. The living room shook-BOOM, BOOM, BOOM-which either meant a SWAT team was breaking down the door or Mrs. O'Leary was wagging her tail.

I couldn't help but smile. Paul was a pretty cool guy, even if he was my English teacher as well as my stepdad. \"Thanks for not freaking out,\" I said. \"Oh, I'm freaking out,\" he promised, his eyes wide. \"I just think it's awesome!\" \"Yeah, well,\" I said, \"you may not be so excited when you hear what's happening.\" I told Paul and my mom about Typhon, and the gods, and the battle that was sure to come. Then I told them Nico's plan. My mom laced her fingers around her lemonade glass. She was wearing her old blue flannel bathrobe, and her hair was tied back. Recently she'd started writing a novel, like she'd wanted to do for years, and I could tell she'd been working on it late into the night, because the circles under her eyes were darker than usual. Behind her at the kitchen window, silvery moon lace glowed in the flower box. I'd brought the magical plant back from Calypso's island last summer, and it bloomed like crazy under my mother's care. The scent always calmed me down, but it also made me sad because it reminded me of lost friends. My mom took a deep breath, like she was thinking how to tell me no. \"Percy, it's dangerous,\" she said. \"Even for you.\" \"Mom, I know. I could die. Nico explained that. But if we don't try-\" \"We'll all die,\" Nico said. He hadn't touched his lemonade. \"Ms. Jackson, we don't stand a chance against an invasion. And there will be an invasion.\" \"An invasion of New York?\" Paul said. \"Is that even possible? How could we not see the . . . the monsters?\"

He said the word like he still couldn't believe this was real. \"I don't know,\" I admitted. \"I don't see how Kronos could just march into Manhattan, but the Mist is strong. Typhon is trampling across the country right now, and mortals think he's a storm system.\" \"Ms. Jackson,\" Nico said, \"Percy needs your blessing. The process has to start that way. I wasn't sure until we met Luke's mom, but now I'm positive. This has only been done successfully twice before. Both times, the mother had to give her blessing. She had to be willing to let her son take the risk.\" \"You want me to bless this?\" She shook her head. \"It's crazy. Percy, please-\" \"Mom, I can't do it without you.\" \"And if you survive this . . . this process?\" \"Then I go to war,\" I said. \"Me against Kronos. And only one of us will survive.\" I didn't tell her the whole prophecy-about the soul reaping and the end of my days. She didn't need to know that I was probably doomed. I could only hope I'd stop Kronos and save the rest of the world before I died. \"You're my son,\" she said miserably. \"I can't just . . .\" I could tell I'd have to push her harder if I wanted her to agree, but I didn't want to. I remembered poor Ms. Castellan in her kitchen, waiting for her son to come home. And I realized how lucky I was. My mom had always been there for me, always tried to make things normal for me, even with the gods and monsters and stuff. She put up with me going off on adventures, but now I was asking her bless- ing to do something that would probably get me killed. I locked eyes with Paul, and some kind of understanding passed

between us. \"Sally.\" He put his hand over my mother's hands. \"I can't claim to know what you and Percy have been going through all these years. But it sounds to me . . . it sounds like Percy is doing something noble. I wish I had that much courage.\" I got a lump in my throat. I didn't get compliments like that too much. My mom stared at her lemonade. She looked like she was trying not to cry. I thought about what Hestia had said, about how hard it was to yield, and I figured maybe my mom was finding that out. \"Percy,\" she said, \"I give you my blessing.\" I didn't feel any different. No magic glow lit the kitchen or anything. I glanced at Nico. He looked more anxious than ever, but he nodded. \"It's time.\" \"Percy,\" my mom said. \"One last thing. If you . . . if you survive this fight with Kronos, send me a sign.\" She rummaged through her purse and handed me her cell phone. \"Mom,\" I said, \"you know demigods and phones-\" \"I know,\" she said. \"But just in case. If you're not able to call . . . maybe a sign that I could see from anywhere in Manhattan. To let me know you're okay.\" \"Like Theseus,\" Paul suggested. \"He was supposed to raise white sails when he came home to Athens.\" \"Except he forgot,\" Nico muttered. \"And his father jumped off the palace roof in despair. But other than that, it was a great idea.\" \"What about a flag or a flare?\" my mom said. \"From Olympus-the Empire State Building.\"

\"Something blue,\" I said. We'd had a running joke for years about blue food. It was my favorite color, and my mom went out of her way to humor me. Every year my birthday cake, my Easter basket, my Christmas candy canes always had to be blue. \"Yes,\" my mom agreed. \"I'll watch for a blue signal. And I'll try to avoid jumping off palace roofs.\" She gave me one last hug. I tried not to feel like I was saying good- bye. I shook hands with Paul. Then Nico and I walked to the kitchen doorway and looked at Mrs. O'Leary. \"Sorry, girl,\" I said. \"Shadow travel time again.\" She whimpered and crossed her paws over her snout. \"Where now?\" I asked Nico. \"Los Angeles?\" \"No need,\" he said. \"There's a closer entrance to the Underworld.\"

SEVEN MY MATH TEACHER GIVES ME A LIFT We emerged in Central Park just north of the Pond. Mrs. O'Leary looked pretty tired as she limped over to a cluster of boulders. She started sniffing around, and I was afraid she might mark her territory, but Nico said, \"It's okay. She just smells the way home.\" I frowned. \"Through the rocks?\" \"The Underworld has two major entrances,\" Nico said. \"You know the one in L.A.\" \"Charon's ferry.\" Nico nodded. \"Most souls go that way, but there's a smaller path, harder to find. The Door of Orpheus.\" \"The dude with the harp.\" \"Dude with the lyre,\" Nico corrected. \"But yeah, him. He used his music to charm the earth and open a new path into the Underworld. He sang his way right into Hades's palace and almost got away with his wife's soul.\" I remembered the story. Orpheus wasn't supposed to look behind him when he was leading his wife back to the world, but of course he did. It was one of those typical \"and-so-they-died/the-end\" stories that always made us feel warm and fuzzy.

\"So this is the Door of Orpheus.\" I tried to be impressed, but it still looked like a pile of rocks to me. \"How does it open?\" \"We need music,\" Nico said. \"How's your singing?\" \"Um, no. Can't you just, like, tell it to open? You're the son of Hades and all.\" \"It's not so easy. We need music.\" I was pretty sure if I tried to sing, all I would cause was an avalanche. \"I have a better idea.\" I turned and called, \"GROVER!\" We waited for a long time. Mrs. O'Leary curled up and took a nap. I could hear the crickets in the woods and an owl hooting. Traffic hummed along Central Park West. Horse hooves clopped down a nearby path, maybe a mounted police patrol. I was sure they'd love to find two kids hanging out in the park at one in the morning. \"It's no good,\" Nico said at last. But I had a feeling. My empathy link was really tingling for the first time in months, which either meant a whole lot of people had suddenly switched on the Nature Channel, or Grover was close. I shut my eyes and concentrated. Grover. I knew he was somewhere in the park. Why couldn't I sense his emotions? All I got was a faint hum in the base of my skull. Grover, I thought more insistently. Hmm-hmmmm, something said. An image came into my head. I saw a giant elm tree deep in the woods, well off the main paths. Gnarled roots laced the ground, making a kind of bed. Lying in it with his arms crossed and his eyes closed was a satyr. At first I couldn't be sure it was Grover. He was

covered in twigs and leaves, like he'd been sleeping there a long time. The roots seemed to be shaping themselves around him, slowly pulling him into the earth. Grover, I said. Wake up. Unnnh-zzzzz. Dude, you're covered in dirt. Wake up! Sleepy, his mind murmured. FOOD, I suggested. PANCAKES! His eyes shot open. A blur of thoughts filled my head like he was suddenly on fast-forward. The image shattered, and I almost fell over. \"What happened?\" Nico asked. \"I got through. He's . . . yeah. He's on his way.\" A minute later, the tree next to us shivered. Grover fell out of the branches, right on his head. \"Grover!\" I yelled. \"Woof!\" Mrs. O'Leary looked up, probably wondering if we were going to play fetch with the satyr. \"Blah-haa-haa!\" Grover bleated. \"You okay, man?\" \"Oh, I'm fine.\" He rubbed his head. His horns had grown so much they poked an inch above his curly hair. \"I was at the other end of the park. The dryads had this great idea of passing me through the trees to get me here. They don't understand height very well.\" He grinned and got to his feet-well, his hooves, actually. Since last summer, Grover had stopped trying to disguise himself as human. He never wore a cap or fake feet anymore. He didn't even wear